The Horses Are Coming

Some of you may know, I am the Creative Director / Graphic Designer for the new event, Horse Days this year in Belvidere, IL.

Last Sunday we had a meeting and talked about all of the events, speakers, workshops, and clinics that we're hosting. We went around the table to discuss where we thought we could improve and how we thought we could make the event even better. Something you should know: at these meetings I am the ONLY hunter/jumper person, so I feel like the ambassador for all things hunter/jumper. Well it came time for me to pipe-in and they said "Jess? Your thoughts?" and because I always believe honesty is the best policy I told them how I felt.

After much consideration and discussion, Horse Days 2011 will be putting the wheels in motion to host a $1,500 Gambler's Choice Jumper Classic on Saturday evening, August 20th. While the prize money isn't set, the idea of the event was one I had up my sleeve that I've always been hoping to ride Jimmy in. I'm guessing the fences will be 3'-4' and entries will be in the ballpark of $50 for the class, with a minimum of $50 cash back to the lowest ribbon. I'm ecstatic about this and I hope you all Midwestern-ians (?!) will come and ride or come and watch!!!! And everyone else from around the country: interested in coming to Chicago...in August? (I know how crazy that sentence sounds...) Horse Days is going to be a blast and I seriously think everyone who owns or is interested in horses should come out and see what we're all about!!


Check out our website to learn more & even buy your tickets online!!

"The dog days are over
The dog days are done
Can you hear the horses?
Because here they come" 
– Florence + The Machine

Bill Rides / New Website

Friday night Bill came out with me to the farm and R-O-D-E our new mare Chocobella!!! And LOVED it!!! She's a 15.3hh 9 year old Appendix mare who is the most honest and wonderful horse on the planet, I'm convinced. Here's a photo:

He watched me get on her first so he knew how to swing his leg over bareback & I showed him how to hold the reins and steer. He was a little uneasy at first, but soon he got the hang of it & was walking like a pro!!! We're working on finding a saddle that will fit both him & the mare at the farm so next time he can ride with full tack, but he seemed to do alright bareback!

Bill now is more than willing to come out to the farm with me (he always has been - but now he has his 'own' horse to care for, not just stepping on my toes caring for JC) so he can see "his horse". Chocobella actually belongs to the farm owner who recently acquired her & she's generous enough to let me use Chocobella at my leisure for lessons :-) She's the sweetest mare and Bill brushes her all over and picks out her feet & takes her for walks when he comes out - and now rides! Hopefully we find a saddle around the farm that will work :-D

In other news, last night I decided to jump the gun and create my personal website for training. You can see it here. Enjoy!!! I'm not sure I love it, after completing it start to finish in 4 hours, I'm already sick of it. HAHA. Oh well, the beauty of it is I can change it whenever I want :-) I'll get there, eventually. Make sure you check out the FOR SALE page to see all the horses & ponies we've got for sale right now!! Show schedule for 2011 is up, too! It's a big year for us at Crystal Valley Equine!! Do you want to get in on the action??

Swooning

I just saw on IHO that Bull Run Farm is hosting another horse show this year - in September....and guess who the judge is? Diane. *SWOON*!!!!!!!!!!

Last summer I rode Jimmy in the Fields and Fences NIHJA Hunter Derby for fun, to get him around all-natural jumps. They had split rails and lots of brush, logs, sod-covered roll-tops, the whole sha-bang, all at 2'6" with a 3' option. It was marvelous.

The next day my dad saw Diane at Lamplight and he said "Jess said you judged the hunter derby last night! What did you think of the little brown horse she rode in it?" (I had multiple mounts) Diane said "That little horse can JUMP!" Hahahaha. I love her so much.

In a perfect world, Jimmy will be ready in September to horse show, I will get a killer freelance gig to cover the cost, and someone awesome will give Jimmy and I a ride there :-D Hey, I can dream, can't I?!? I'd love for Diane to see Jimmy go again. That was one of my favorite moments with Jimmy so far! He's so good.

Judging

Well yesterday I made my judging debut at St. Charles Farm Schooling Show. It was SUCH a blast! I absolutely loved it. I wasn't sure how I would like judging, but this was such a perfect first experience, I cannot wait to judge again in a few weeks.

I only had to speak with one trainer on the side about her student's behavior. It was the sweetest little pony who was SUCH a gem, he took wonderful care of his girl and she seemed to give less than the deserving amount of respect back to him, so I took the opportunity to speak with the trainer on the subject. I feel especially at such a young age, it's very important that we educate the future equestrians of this world that our horses are good to us, we need to always be good back to them.

The overall feedback for the day was that I was extremely fair in all of my pinning which was the best compliment anyone could have given me. I truly judged each round individually and gave them the score they deserved. The only time "favorites" came into play was when two horses had equal amount of faux pas in the over fences (refusals, rails, chips, etc.) and I would choose the safer ride, or the more brilliant horse, situation pending. Most of all, I chose safe rides all day, which made me feel great that everyone agreed that I was fair. Some of the over fences rounds had big, beautiful horses that would be perfectly suited for the 3'6" jumpers, but doing the 2'9" hunters they were buzzing around breathing fire – and that doesn't get far in my hunter ring, folks. Yes, your horse is beautiful, no I don't consider you the most brilliant ride of the bunch.

I'm so happy, this is such a new and exciting thing for me to get involved in. If anyone knows of any schooling or open horse shows that need judges, please pass my name and information along!!! I was asked to judge a horse show up in Eagle River, Wisconsin next summer, so Bill and I are going to try and plan a vacation around it :-)

Helmet Debate: UPDATE

WE HAVE A WINNER!!! HOORAY!!! *crowd cheers*

The Ovation Extreme Helmet takes all! The Tipperary that I really wanted did NOT fit whatsoever and the lower-priced Ovation wasn't quite as comfortable to me. So HOORAY! Now I have a goal: I must save up $74.99 + tax to go buy this helmet at Saddler's Row. I've looked it up online and the cheapest I've found is $66 at eqtack.com and $67 on Equestrian Collections both of which have shipping fees, and I'd have to WAIT to get them after I saved up the money...which I don't wait very well, so that just isn't happening. With my size and color, I can hope that they'll have it at the tent sale, but since it's a very new line of helmet, I doubt it. I will be scouring the horse show prize lists I get in the mail for coupons though!!!

Here's a picture of it:
I think it looks really nice! And since all helmets now are ASTM approved, why wouldn't I buy a $74.99 helmet instead of spending $150+ on something that protects my head the same way and is less comfortable? In the hunters now even styles like this are completely acceptable, so the schooling and possible eventing I plan to do in the future won't be a problem. I'm going to be cool and COMFORTABLE, BABY!!! Can't wait!

Helmet Debate

So, those who know me... know that I love to plan. In August of every year, Saddler's Row has a tent sale...with deals so incredible, it's unbelievable. So naturally, being me... I start planning for said "tent sale"...in June. This year my mission is a helmet.

I realized this weekend that I haven't gotten a new helmet in probably 5+ years and I've definitely had enough hard hits to the head (with..and without... Haha!) that it's time for a new one. Now, I'm not a big, fancy Hunter/Jumper rider anymore, so the ridiculously overpriced GPA and Charles Owen "show" helmets need not apply. I can get some cute little schooling helmet that I've always wanted because they frankly look 100 times more comfortable and...THEY'RE CHEAPER! So I've asked around some fellow, knowledgeable eventing people and got my hands on the USEA Rule Book and learned that so long as it's dark blue or black, and ASTM approved, I can show in all levels of eventing in it. WOOOOOO DOGGY!!!

So the FUN part?! PICKING ONE OUT!!!! Tonight I'm going to Saddler's Row to see what they've got to offer. They only have the Ovation Schooler Helmet online, which is one that I definitely want to try out ($49.99, respectively). The other that I'm seriously considering (aka: really really really want) is the Tipperary 8500 in carbon gray - which is basically black ($59.95, respectively).

Anyone know anything about either of these helmets? I haven't gotten a new helmet in so long, I am so excited I'm counting down the minutes just to go TRY ONE ON!!!! Let alone buy one. OH BOY!!!!!! Excited.

Decisions

So, I get that we're a little premature to be talking about this...But I'm just going to jump into it anyway.

This is something I've been thinking about for a while, and desperately wanted to jump into THIS season, but clearly it just isn't going to happen... I think when Jimmy comes back to "work" we are going to start....*drum roll* EVENTING.

Keep in mind, that I've been a hunter/jumper rider for 13 years, and I love it more than anything, but the hunter/jumpers just aren't a good fit for Jimmy and I. I've jumped "out" of the divisions I'd be able to show Jimmy in because I did the Jr/AO (4'6") when I was younger, so I can't do the 3' money classes with him due to that AND I'm a PRO now so I can't actually be in ANY money classes in the h/j world....unless they're Prix's. I love Jimmy....but let's be real here. Hahaha.

So I've gone to watch on mini-event, and I'm going to the "Big Barrington" event in a few weeks to watch with some fellow IHO friends and although I understand little to none about dressage tests and scoring...I get the concept, and let's be honest, Jimmy and I can really jump so 2 out of 3 of the events we will be more than okay at.

Because of his leg situation, I don't think I ever want to do more than 3' on him competitively. 3'3" would really be pushing it. We'll see how strong he comes back (hopefully stronger than ever!) but the fact that I will be able to do money classes, try something new, and do something I'm almost 100% certain Jimmy will excel in kind of makes it a no-brainer. My mom still has the firm belief that eventing is the devil's sport and I'm surely going to kill myself, or Jim. I'm pretty confident we can handle the 3' derby-style jumps on turf...since they're even less intimidating than the hunter derby jumps we did at Fields and Fences last summer. Jimmy absolutely had a blast at that hunter derby, (t00 much fun....he was hauling @$$) and clearly enjoyed it still the second day when we did the same course in the Training Jumpers at 2'9" and was 2nd of 20 -- all the others were very seasoned jumpers or equitation horses, who were really in it to win it, and this little 4 year old Heinz 57 mutt of a horse comes in and whips their pants off. God Bless Jimmy Choo.

So what do you think? Good decision? Bad decision? Jess, you've gone off the deep end decision? Tell me your thoughts. I wanna know!!

"Yeah I Read Your Blog"

Today I was at a horse show all day, in 90º heat, with a migraine....catching pee. I wanted to jump off a cliff most of the time. BUT this is the sacrifice I make. Jimmy is my child and I do every extra side-job I can to keep him as comfortable and sound as possible.

And at the end of the day, I blog. Why? Because I love horse shows so damn much that even with a migraine and in the heat, I just wanna be there with my horse. The biggest reward I've ever gotten, other than just having people listen when I brag on and on about how much I love my perfect little angel of a horse, is when I START to brag on him, and they stop me and say, "Yeah, I know. I read your blog" SHHHHUUUUTTTT UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PEOPLE READ THIS THING?!?!

Bill teases me and says "Oh yeah, you're a blog-ebrity. You're huge in the blog world."

True or not, the thought is invigorating. And so, I will blog on....just not tonight (that migraine finally went away and I'm dying for some sleep). Good night! and thanks for reading :-)

Stitchless-Wrapless-What's Next?!

Alright alright, so he's not TOTALLY wrap-less yet, but we're getting there! Tonight he had no wraps on for 45 minutes while we groomed/walked/grazed (mostly grazed....walking is an afterthought to Jimmy) This week Jess and I will be tag-teaming (pending her agreement on the matter...LOL) unwrapping/re-wrapping JC. She will unwrap him in the evening/afternoon/morning throughout the week to "wean" his legs off of the support of leg wraps and I will wrap him back up for the support all night. Hopefully by weeks end, or maybe early next week, he's off wraps completely....because next Friday, June 4th....JIMMY GETS TO GO OUTSIDE!!!!!!!!! WOOOOO!!!! AHHHHH!!! *ROARING CROWD GOING WILD*

Yeah, you could say that I'm excited. Check out what came today?! He's totally going to be the most stylish dude in the bunch. I bet he wears this better than me, though....



Tonight, during his walk, he stumbled three times, noticeably. Another time from pure laziness, I think. It's something I need to watch and keep my eyes on. If he's stumbling without wraps on while he's walking, I'm concerned. Then again...maybe he just was pissed he wasn't eating grass & tried to stumble for snacks ;-) You never know....

Oh, and I'm a terrible mother again...I forgot to give him his Adequan. (Crap.) Oh well! Tomorrow it is.

BUT GUESS WHAT?! I now have TWO judging gigs this summer, and I bet there are more on the way. If your hunter/jumper horse show is in need of a judge, please click here to view my resume and send me an e-mail!

Stitches out tonight!!!

Running out now - but wanted to post pix from last night & say that tonight STITCHES COME OUT!!! HOORAYY!!!!!!





Also, here's a copy of my updated riding resume! Check it out :D

Click here for resume.

Honored

For a while I've been thinking that judging is something that I would like to get into...and what do you know?! Last night a good friend of mine asked me to judge her schooling show. I am honored and THRILLED!!!

Mom told me it's something I should look into doing more, and I really have been considering it for quite some time. I think next time I go out to Telluride (next weekend??) I will talk to Diane about getting my 'r' (or does 'R' come first!? See...I need to research...) and see what judging clinics are coming up. I think it's something I'd really enjoy doing. (Because I have the time do add ANOTHER thing to my weekends...not)

Jumper PIcture

I described this picture to Betsi when I was telling her that Jimmy thought the jumpers last summer were the best thing that ever happened. I didn't "practice" any jump off speed over fences whatsoever before I brought him, just always asked him to jump around clean and politely. However, when the speed portion of the power & speed kicked in in this class - his first ever time in the jumper ring - he just got lower to the ground, like a race car, and rocked it hard. He jumped and turned and galloped and was SUPER clean. I love remembering this day.



***EDIT*** I just watched the video of us in this class - this photo is the result of him getting himself out of the way of a pretty deep chip. I kept looking at this pic thinking "he doesn't look as tidy as usual..." LOL. Pretty dang tidy for getting out of a chip!!! LOOOVEEE HIMMMM

Mini Events

Today I went to Baby Barrington to meet up with a client, and watched a few xc rides. It was definitely not at all what I was expecting!!!!!

Mini Events xc is just a big turf derby field, with little tiny jumps sprinkled all over the place. I think I offended one of the trainers there, I asked (which, in retrospect, I understand was pretty bitchy sounding, but I ABSOLUTELY didn't intend for it to come out bitchy) "Is this the whole course?" LOL because it wasn't much bigger than our derby field at Telluride.

So then I text & proceeded to call my friend Betsi and talked to her for a while about it. We agreed that eventing seems to be something that JC is going to rule at, and it just seems like fun. I'm just going to look for events that are about 3' (so they're good competition for us, bc the 2'6" that I watched today wouldn't be fair for us to do. Most of the riders trotted the course...And Jimmy could do that course blindfolded, at a gallop....not fair) and look for mini events with cash back. The Maui Jim Horse Trials Eventing Derby this year would be absolutely perfect for us. I don't want to push him to be ready by August of this year, because he can just come back to being ridden in early July. I want to give him as much time as he needs to recover. Maybe by this fall we can find someone to give us a ride to Fox Valley for on of their IDCTA shows or something.

So that'd be a blast for end of this year - or sometime next year. Eventing. I'll need a vest...anyone have one I can buy...or borrow eventually? I'm 5'6" / 130lbs. :-D

Jimmy himself was wonderful today. Very cheerful. Mom and I went to see "Letters to Juliet" and then went out to take care of Jimmy. The wraps still look perfect!!! I will definitely be able to leave them until Monday. MONEY!!!

I hid some carrots for him in his stall so he would have something to do for a while :) He watched me hide them, so he went right in and found some:


Then I wanted to give him a kiss goodbye...and realized the joke was on me! He REALLY found the carrots:


He was very proud of how crafty he was in "Find the Carrots"


Adequan tomorrow!! I cannot wait until he's better. 50ish days ;-)

Message from Diane

Just now on Facebook I got a message from my old trainer Diane Carney - telling me that my old horse Slim is still going strong, is sound, and taking great care of all of his riders at Ledges this weekend.

I thought that was so incredibly thoughtful of her to do! It's amazing to have technology like Facebook to keep us all connected. I love hearing about my old horses. Only two are still around and kickin'.

Here's a photo of Slim and I - we were both about 16 in this picture. He is now 22. Same age as me :) God Bless the horses like this.

Such Happy Trails!!!

Last night I got out to the barn right after work & the sun was still high in the sky, so I knew I had plenty of daylight! I brushed & spoiled the big guy & tacked up to get on our way.

Back in the days of having Doobie at this farm, the second we left the property he would get all jazzed up and start prancing around like a moron & it took every ounce of my energy just to keep him calm enough until we reached turf & then just left him run as long as he could (which typically was a really long time). However, Jimmy is the polar opposite - in all the best ways.

The second I open the gate, he realizes that we're gunna go for a ride, and he just has that happy, Jimmy look on his face. He's a perfect gentleman walking across the road, and down the street until we get to the trail. When we got to the trail he waits for me to ask him to do anything other than walk, which then he gratefully perks up into a nice trot. He just trots down the trail like the happiest dude you've ever seen :)

Last night our deer friends joined us again, and he's so good about it when they are leaping all around us!!! No matter how fast we're going, he slowly graces his way down to a halt, plants his feet, and just looks at them, ears perked and intrigued. He never spins, or spooks, or jolts. He just calmly stands there, and it seems like he counts to ten, assesses the situation, then calmly goes back up into a walk & waits for me to ask for more. He is seriously the most incredible, wonderful, amazing animal I've ever known. He's just so sincere about everything!!! He's always trying so hard to please!!

So once the deer were all gone & we looped around the whole trail once, we hacked in the neighbor's GIANT field/yard & Jimmy LOVED it. He hacked really nicely, and felt great. I let him trot & canter as long as he wanted, and when he was done he just kind of pootered out down to a walk & walked himself home :-) He's the best. Lead changes were all there, he was sound as a dollar bill, and although he DESPERATELY wanted to buck (baby crow-hops = jimmy trying to buck...it's comical, if anything) he got that out of his system after a few minutes and was a dream. I can't wait to get him back into shape and start jumping again!!! This year we are planning to go to the Maui Jim Horse Trials and compete in the Novice Division!!!!!! I can't wait. It will be SO fun. It sounds perfect. I've ALWAYS wanted to do an eventing derby, now is our chance :D Time to start schooling!

Here's a pic of us on our ride last night. Happy trails!!!!

Filthy

Last night I went to visit the big guy Jimmy Choo & he was standing at the gate, waiting for me :-D What a good dude!!!! I was thrilled I didn't have to trudge through the ankle-deep thick, black darkness which is mud. I kind of feel bad that he has to walk/stand in it all day, and then I think of it this way: It's a natural poultice, and it's a great work out!! Haha.

So he was very happy to follow me in & munch on sugar cubes. I brushed him & tried to clean off his feet as much as I could, and even attempted to get a brush through his tail! Ha. Didn't quite work out, but it was a solid effort & he was a sport to let me try. His mane is getting so thick & full I can't believe it! It's pretty ;)

I let him out into the arena to run on flatter, dryer ground & he mostly just romped around for a minute & then tried to just nibble the grass around the perimeter, so I took him back inside. Here's a picture of him after his romp in the arena. (Look at his pot-belly!!!)



One of the girls from the barn asked Jimmy and I to go with her and her horse Luna to the Spring Grove Hunter show in May :-) So pending on how quickly Jimmy can get back into jumping shape, we'll be going with! I'm sure he'll be ready in no time, so 6 weeks to prep is plenty of time. We'll just do the Open Hunters - 2'6". He can definitely handle that. Haha! Should be really fun though!!!!

...I hope I get my tall boots back from Francis by then :P

Recap – Equifest I

Alright, here's the recap of Equifest I 2009, in pictures!!

Kenna and I had a lot of fun :)

RocZ jumped like a super-star.
Udo was a gem...as usual.

RocZ won the Adult Hunter U/S!!! Udo was 2nd!!!! We had a GREAT week! This week we will be even BETTER O/F and really knock some socks off!!!

This morning I did Dexter in the schooling jumpers, who was very good. Tomorrow we kick off the hunters with Pre Greens.

Oh, did I forget to mention... JIMMY JOINED US THIS WEEK!!!!!! He isn't showing, but he IS hanging out with the gang and livin' it up in the tents. He's learning to be a big boy!! More updates later this week...I'm exhausted. My head is pounding and I need to tuck myself into bed. The heat is back full-force this week. We were wondering last week where it was...it's just not Equifest without that 85º weater they say...but I didn't miss it!!! Let the heat wave begin.

Equifest I

Hola!

SO, this week I think the people in Hell got the ice water they've been begging for....because I was offered RocZ and Udo to show... for both weeks I and II of Equifest!!!!! Talk about a dream come true. So far it has been SUCH a blast I can't even tell you... I feel so fortunate to have this opportunity! Yesterday we did the PreGreens and both horses were so solid. changes, strides, and spots were all there!! Here's a pic of RocZ and Udo so you have a reference :P I'll try to get some photos this weekend and post them!! Wish us luck <3 TOP is Udo & I BOTTOM is RocZ and Molly, both photos by Chelsey Fowler

Fields & Fences Horse Show

Jimmy in the jumpers!

2nd Place! Go Jimmy Choo!!

Meet Udo :)

Schooling Jimmy before the Hunter Derby

Hello Gorgeous Udo :)

Udo

This weekend we went to Fields and Fences for the NIHJA horse show they hosted and had a really great time!! We did the hunter derby for fun on Saturday & our first-ever jumper class this morning!!! And Jimmy was SECOND in the jumpers!! What a great boy!!

He never questioned anything and jumped everything without a thought.

I also showed a horse that belongs to one of Betty's clients (Udo) who was a gem. We had the highest score of the four we had in the derby!! 138! Go Udo. The round would have been a lot better had I not gotten in his way & made him SWAP (twice) and have a rub. Jimmy got a 120, bc I biffed the crap out of the last jump. I was so thrilled he went so well the rest of the ride I forgot to count to the last oxer! Oh well, he left everything up and it was a riot of a good time. Above are some pix of the hunter derby and the jumpers! Enjoy :)

Lesson - July 4th 2009

So the whole lesson was rock steady until the last fence, which Jimmy forgot how to steer and we had issues with....

...Needless to say we will be working him on his right bend intensely for the next week. Haha. Horse show next weekend :) Pix from today possibly up tomorrow.